


When The Door Opens

by writerllofllworlds



Series: Nothing's Gone Forever, Only Out of Place [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Baby Starks - Freeform, Badass Peter Parker, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt Peter Parker, Irondad, Marvel Universe, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective Tony Stark, Rhodey is great, cuz there aint enough of that, please read this in order or it won't really make sense, spiderson, tony is such a dad, yall its happening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-05-18 18:46:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19340413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerllofllworlds/pseuds/writerllofllworlds
Summary: All Tony wants to do is put his hero life behind him and be a good husband and father to Pepper, Morgan, and Parker. He wants to be able to hang out with his friends, help save the world through technology, and learn all the different kinds of giggles that his son has.But Hydra is messing around with Time Travel, Sam Wilson is questioning Tony's sanity, and Stephen Strange can see ghosts.Great.





	1. Something's Brewing, About to Begin

**Author's Note:**

> So it begins.   
> I don't own Marvel, you guys know that. This is the last part of a little series I'm doing. This is more exposition than anything else. Next chapter is going to be long, I think, so look forward to that.   
> Um, yeah? I'll post the next one soon.   
> Love you guys!

“And that’s Mommy.” Tony lifted Parker higher on his hip as the one-year-old tried to grab at the picture frame, which could only end in disaster and broken glass. “And Sissy. And there’s Daddy.”

Parker babbled happily and laid his head on his father’s shoulder. Tony’s heart clenched in delight at how perfectly his son fit into his arms, how safe he felt in his daddy’s hold. He wondered if he ever felt like this in Howard’s arms. If Howard even held him like this at one point in time.

“Yeah, you weren’t around just yet.”

 Across the room, Pepper looked up from where she was watching Morgan build the Lego Deathstar. She smiled fondly at her boys. “Still having conversations with him?”

“I will have you know that I can understand him perfectly.” Tony stuck his tongue out at his wife, who raised a brow at his immature mannerism. “He was just asking to look at more pictures, weren’t you bud?”

Parker smiled up at him and giggled. Tony bent and blew a raspberry kiss into his curls as he moved to pick up another photo. He turned his face slightly out of his son’s wayward locks to stare into the eyes of his kid – the one he’d lost. It was the “Game Night” picture, one that never failed to make him so happy and so fucking sad at the same time. sometimes he tried to convince himself to put it away somewhere so that it couldn’t hurt him. Then he saw Pete’s big grin, cheeks dusted red just slightly at the entire ordeal of spending seven full hours playing a variation of board, video, and card games with his heroes. His big brown eyes were crinkled in childish glee, his freckles dotting the adorable nose just like they had when they closed the goddamn coffin-

Tony swallowed. Why did it still haunt him? Could he not just have today? Could he not just hold his son while his daughter and wife sat a few feet away, the morning sun casting a warm glow over the entire kitchen? Could he not stand here and look at pictures of his family without feeling like he had failed the one that mattered most?

Parker reached for this photo too. His little fingers skimmed the frame. “Daddy.”

Tony’s smile returned, his sweet voice chasing away some of his father’s demons. “Yeah, bud. That’s Daddy and Mommy. And there’s Uncle Happy, and Uncle Rhodey.”

His mouth turned dry as his eyes traveled once again to the brown-haired curls.

 “Baby.” Parker said, uncharacteristically quiet. His tiny fingers traced over Peter’s young face, completely oblivious to Tony’s shock. “Daddy’s baby.”

Fuck, his kid was so smart. “W-what, buddy?”

The infant smacked Peter’s face lightly. “Daddy’s baby!”

Tony barked out a laugh. “That’s Peter, Parker. Peter.”

“Baby.” The boy seemed adamant on the title. Man, how many times had Tony called Peter that for this child to equate the endearment with his face?

“No, Parker.” The hero shook his head. “Parker, that’s -,” your big brother. “That’s Peter. He was a hero too.”

 “ _Baby_.” Parker strained, (how the hell did he know how to do that? Tony needed to stop using so much sarcasm around this kid. He was picking up _fast_ ) his tiny eyebrows furrowed in confusion as looked up at his father. “ _Daddy’s_ Baby.”  

Tony glanced back to the photo.

_“Baby?_

He blinked the dust from his eyes, dismissed the smell of charred skin and blood from his nostrils.

_“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Baby.”_

“Yeah, okay.” He nodded, swallowing the tears that threatened to climb from his throat to his eyes. He readjusted Parker on his hip again. “Okay, bud. That’s Daddy’s Baby. That’s Peter. He’s your big brother.”

“Baby.” Parker nodded, satisfied that his dad had finally agreed with him.

Tony kissed his son’s head. “That’s the only two words you’re working with right now?”

He smiled cheekily at his dad. The man rolled his eyes. “Fine. Man, you and he would have gotten along so well.”

F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice cut through the playlist of Disney soundtracks. “Boss, Captain Rogers is requesting to talk to you.”

Tony sighed, eyes dragging over to his wife’s. Pepper’s fond smile had been replaced by an expectant frown.

“No.” he said.

“Tony…” She gave him a pointed look.

God, he never was going to get a break, was he?

“I hung up the suit, Pep.” He shook his head, eyes memorizing Peter’s face for a second more before placing the photo down and walking over to his girls. “I’m not a super anymore; you know that.”

“Yeah, that worked real well last time you tried it.” She nodded to Morgan, who was happily placing Darth Vader into her Lego creation.

“The world was at stake.” Tony defended. “What was I supposed to do?”

“You didn’t do it for the world.” She answered softly.

Brown eyes, big and trusting. Freckles that came out only when he was in the sun long enough. A laugh that carried to the heavens and made even the angels jealous. A smile that could light up any room he entered. A voice that no one believed could be prettier than the songbird’s but was. A heart bigger than anyone else he had ever met.

A heart big enough to die for a world that didn’t deserve him.

“No.” Tony swallowed. “No, I didn’t.”

“Boss?” The AI asked hesitantly.

Tony and Pepper stared at each other for a moment more before he groaned. He handed Parker off to his mom with an eyeroll. “You owe me dinner.”

Another raised brow. He didn’t question his wife anymore.

“Alright, F.R.I. Tell him I’ll meet him in the common room on level thirty-three.”

“Right away, Boss.”

Tony kissed Pepper’s cheek. “I might not be home for dinner.”

She chuckled. “I know. Kiss Morgan goodbye.”

As if he needed to be told. He knelt down next to his daughter. “Heyah, pumpkin. You heard Mommy?”

“Mmhmm.” She nodded, meeting her dad’s gaze. “Another mission that you always say you’ll never go on?”

Man, her and Parker’s cheekiness was going to kill him. “Yeah, sweetheart. You be good for Mom, okay?”

The six-year-old nodded and hugged her dad tightly. “Love you three-thousand, Daddy.”

Tony closed his eyes and squeezed her tightly, hoping that she understood just how much the words meant to him. “I love you three-thousand too, Morgan.”

She nodded again and pulled away, going right back to her Deathstar.

Tony sighed and exited his family’s story of the Tower, taking the elevator down to level thirty-three. He stuck his hands into his pockets as he strolled down the corridor towards the meeting room, nodding to the employees he passed.

As he grew closer, he heard Steve and Rhodey’s voices.

“He doesn’t have to come.” His best friend was saying.

“I know that, James.” Oh, it was so weird to hear Steve call Rhodey by his real name. “We’re just here to get his insight into the problem. If he ends up joining us, then that’s on him.”

“Yeah, you say that, Cap, but we both know you can bat those eyelashes of yours and talk about civilian casualties until Tones decides the world’s problems are all on his shoulders.”

“This isn’t about the world.” The captain countered. “It’s about Hydra.”

“Fuck Hydra.” Bucky interjected.

“I mean, if you have a thing for multiple-headed reptiles who breathe fire, I won’t kink shame,” Tony said as he entered the room, smirking at the ex-assassin who glared back at him, eyes narrowed and tongue sticking out. “Good morning to you too, Snowball.”

Bucky walked over to shake Tony’s hand. “How are you, Tony?”

“Well,” the billionaire shrugged. “I was having a lovely morning with my family until you party-poopers showed up.”

Steve and Sam winced. Rhodey rolled his eyes. “I told you.”

“It’s about Hydra, Tony.” Sam began.

Tony raised a brow. Pepper would have been proud. “Yes, I think that’s already been stated with Bucky’s sexual tendencies.”

He dodged the thrown grape.

“Look, we knew that Hydra wasn’t really gone, at least not for good. That’s why you and Captain Spandex have been keeping an eye on their old locales, remember? Why is this such a big deal? Are they hurting anyone?”

“They’ve been doing some dangerous research, Tony,” Steve answered, eyes boring into his own just like they used to.

“As in?” Tony urged. “Listen, guys, I’m flattered that you thought of my an all, but I’m not really into the hero gig anymo-,”

“Time travel, Tony.” The Captain interrupted. “They’re researching and experimenting with time travel.”

Everything froze for a moment. “That’s not supposed to happen.”

Sam nodded slowly. “No shit, Stark. They’ve been conducting a lot of crazy experiments in Siberia over the last few months-,”

“Months?” Tony blinked, nose wrinkling in disgusted confusion. “You all have known about this for months and you didn’t think to come to me earlier? Or to _deal_ with it earlier?”

Rhodey held up a hand. “Hold on, Tones; don’t get mad about that. Team America over here didn’t know about the research until Saturday. I discovered it on a military mission. I relayed what I found to them because I knew they were trying to finish off the remaining Hydra supporters.”

Tony pursed his lips, glaring to the side. “Fine. We know where they are, we know that whatever they’re doing is dangerous. Why don’t we just go and put a stop to it? We’re the Avengers for Pete’s sake.”

For being retired, Tony wasn’t very good at staying out of the fight.

“We?” Sam raised a triumphant eyebrow. “Does that mean you’ll come?”

“The Avengers are never complete without Iron Man.”

The billionaire met the supersoldier’s eyes across the table. Something was there, brewing at the edges of his eyes. It was the same look that Tony had seen all those years ago when all they had to worry about was Loki and his squad of man-eating aliens, portals in the sky. When life was easier and happier. When there weren’t as many Peter shaped holes in Tony’s heart.

It was the look of Captain America like he used to be, still so full of that righteous goodness and want to change the world instead of just saving it.

They were both so old now, though neither looked it.

They had talked so much since Thanos had been defeated. It was good to finally be friends again.

“I’m not the boss,” Tony smirked.

“Yeah, well,” Steve grinned. “I am, remember?”

“How could I forget?”

They left for Russia the next day – and of course the stupid Hydra base was in Russia – and Tony took time to kiss his children and wife goodbye a second time before he was whisked off to the Quinjet and they were up in airspace. Tony tried to hold onto his son as he uttered his third word for the first time, but Rhodey’s grip on his arm, ushering him to the jet, were more than a match to Tony’s shocked state.

“He said bye.” He breathed.

“Hmm?” Rhodey asked quietly.

“Parker,” Tony replied curtly. _Please don’t let that be the last word he says to me_. “Parker told me goodbye.”

_“Dad…?”_

He shook his head, the image of Peter’s broken body, cold and still in his arms as he whispered _his_ last word branded across his brain. He prayed that the mission didn’t end in a similar way but with Tony cradled in someone’s arms. He had a family to return to. Peter had died so that he could be with his family so that he could live. He wouldn’t give up on them now.

“So, we don’t know anything else about what Hydra is messing around with?”

Sam sighed. “All we know is they were on Compound property, gathering shit from the battle sight.”

Tony scoffed. “What are they trying to do – bring back Thanos?”

“We think that’s exactly what they’re trying to do.”

He jerked his head to stare at Bucky. “ ** _What_**.”

The soldier met Tony’s eyes across the ship, gaze tired. “Think about it. If they could get him back and control him? You were the only Avenger that could lay a scratch on him, Tony. If that was set loose on innocent people? Or if he was used as a bargaining tool to get the UN or something to submit to whatever Hydra wanted? Even if we could defeat him now, it’s still super dangerous.”

Tony shook his head and gripped his head. “Hasn’t Thanos done enough? Geez, I think I get to be free of him finally, and here I am.”

Rhodey placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll stop them, Tones. We always do.”

“Not always.” He snapped darkly. “And usually not soon enough.”

“ _Don’t remember me by my death, Mr. Stark_.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re right. Let’s just get this over with. No one with a sense of sanity wants that purple raisin back.”

 He saw Steve’s lips quirk up from the pilot’s seat. That was worth it, he supposed. Steve never smiled enough anymore.

They arrived at the Hydra base during the middle of the night. They decided to go in guns blazing since it was likely that they had noticed Rhodey’s mission the week prior. There was no point in sneaking in, especially with Hydra’s insane security precautions.

Tony and Rhodey went in first since their armor was much harder to lay a scratch on. Cap, Falcon, and Winter Soldier ran in after them, using their many skills to take down as many men as possible.

“Where do you think they’re holding the research or whatever?” Sam asked over the coms as he threw an agent into the wall.

“We think it’ll be on the lower levels,” Steve replied, grunting as he flipped a dude over his shoulder and probably cracked his skull against the concrete floor. “Sensors show a stairwell down the hall and to the right.”

The Iron Man suit slammed to the ground. “Let’s do this quickly. I promised Parker that I’d be back in time for Movie Marathon Night.”

“You and your infant have an agreement about movie marathon nights?” Sam asked incredulously, punching another agent’s lights out as his wings shielding another’s gunshots from behind.

“Of _course_ ,” Tony replied, shooting a trio of hydra bastards with his repulsors. They went down with screams of pain. “He picks most nights. Morgan can get a little fussy about it, but Parker’s the baby. His cuteness has to win him some favors.”

The team made their way through the corridors and to the stairwell. War Machine and Iron Man flew down the chute as the others ran to catch up. Tony burst through the door and immediately took down the group of scientists (obviously. They were wearing lab coats) with his tiny missiles.

Upon seeing what was in the middle of the room, he barked, “F.R.I.D.A.Y. scan that thing now.”

It looked like it was alive. A mass of blue and purple color was twisting and turning in the middle of the large chamber, emitting a small pulsing sound. As Tony got closer, he saw in the middle a sort of… glassy type substance. He could see a distorted reflection of himself. And in the middle was the-

“That’s impossible.” Steve breathed.

“Yeah.” Tony nodded, brain trying to comprehend what his eyes were clearly seeing. “The time stone is definitely not supposed to be in Hydra’s hand.”

“Do you have Doc’s number?” Rhodey asked at his side.

He nodded. “F.R.I.?”

“Already on it, Boss.”

“I thought you put the time Stone back where it belonged,” Sam said to Steve. “Wasn’t that the whole point of you going back in time?”

“If they went back and got it, it means that they already discovered how to do time travel.”

_Stark, I do hope this is important.”_ Stephen Strange’s voice appeared over the phone. _“I’m kind of in the middle of-,”_

“Is the time stone on you?” Tony snapped, eyes never leaving the green stone in the middle of the blue mess.

_“What?”_

“Do you have the time stone?” he almost shouted, nervousness getting the better of him. Thanos could not come back. He had already taken enough from Tony. Too much.

“ _What the hell- yes. Yes, I do. It’s around my neck right now. What is this about_?”

“Get over here now.” Tony scowled. “Like, yesterday, Strange. This is important.”

Something must have shown in his voice because Doc didn’t make a snarky remark. “I’ll be right there.”

True to his word, within the minute he heard the tale-tell sound of a sling ring and turned to see Stephen stepping out of his portal. Deactivating his suit, Tony stepped out to walk over to him. But instead of looking towards the glowing teal blob in the middle of the room, Stephen’s eyes were wide, shock written across every feature as he looked directly beside Tony.

            “Peter?”

           

           

           


	2. The Place Where the Lost Things Go

          Peter couldn’t breathe.

          “You-,” his eyes immediately began to water. “You can _see_ me?”

          He knew he looked like a mess. Death did that to you. He knew that his cheeks were sunken in, that he was pale and that the bags under his eyes were atrocious. His Spiderman suit was ripped and dirty, hanging off his body since it was made to fit the form of his peak fitness. His eyes were perpetually red and dull, and the burn marks all the way up his right arm and neck were ugly, standing out against the whiteness of his skin.

          Doctor Strange stared at the boy as if he was the most amazing thing he had ever seen. “Yes. Yes, Peter, I can see you.”

         “Oh my god.” He gasped, body shaking from shock and happiness. He’d been waiting for years it seemed for someone to just see him. Every time Hydra tried another test to bring Thanos back, Peter had come back with him, back to the real world, and each time they shut it off he died again. He had died so many times he had lost count, and each time it _burned_ and he wailed and sobbed and then he went back to the stupid limbo between heaven and life.

          Neither wanted him, he supposed.

          Mr. Stark looked around wildly. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

          “I didn’t-,” Peter choked on the sob bubbling up from his throat. “I didn’t think that anybody would ever- I thought I was going to be stuck here forever.”

          Mr. Stark walked straight through Peter’s body and he _screamed_.

          Every time that someone walked through his ghostly form, it burned every inch of him. A living, breathing being pushing itself through a dead thing wasn’t supposed to happen. All of the Hydra scientists and doctors (now unconscious or dead on the ground) had no idea that in trying to resurrect Thanos, they had also brought back the death closest to the Titan’s.

           It was a wonderful reminder that he wasn’t supposed to be back.

           “STARK, MOVE!” Doctor Strange immediately shoved the metal hero aside, hands catching Peter’s elbows before he fell to the ground.

           “Peter, Peter, are you alright? Does it still hurt? I’m not sure-,”

           The teenager gasped. Doc was touching him.

           Doc was touching him.

           He could _touch_ him.

           Peter raised glassy eyes to meet the sorcerer’s. “You can touch me.”

           The softest expression crossed the wizard’s expression. “Yes, Peter. Yes, I can.”

           Mr. Stark and his comrades – Peter just now realized that War Machine, Captain America, Falcon, and the Winter Soldier were also there – were beginning to look at Doc as if he was insane. Peter had barely been able to breathe when Tony had broken down the stairwell door. He had been so distracted because there was Mr. Stark. There was his hero, his mentor, his dad. He looked older, greyer hair, but more laughter lines too.

_Mr. Stark. I missed you, Tony._

_Dad. Dad, I miss you._

           “What’s going on, Strange.” Tony’s voice was hard and cold, staring directly into Peter’s wide gaze but he couldn’t see him. Peter’s heart fell to his feet as he looked back into the eyes so similar to his; eyes that could not see him.

_Please, Dad. Just see me._

            Doctor Strange didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, his hands brushed over Peter’s head and down his cheek. The boy sobbed again. He hadn’t had any human contact in… however long he’d been here, and to have someone so gently cup his face was so good. “Hey, it’s alright. We’re going to get you out, okay, Peter?”

            Mr. Stark growled, grabbing Doc’s wrist. “Strange. Why do you keep saying Peter?”

            Peter looked up at his father figure, brows furrowed at the badly masked rage in his voice. His face was angry, jaw set and eyes flaming. Was he angry at Peter? Oh, God, he didn’t know if he could handle Tony being mad at him again. The Ferry Incident was bad enough. But if he was mad at Peter for dying…

            He remembered dying perfectly. The pain, the numbness.

            His dad’s warm hands on his cold cheeks as the life left his broken body.

            “You can rest now.”

            But he couldn’t. Peter never got to the other side. He was made to stay in the in-between alone.

            Well, not alone.

            “Where are you?” Doc asked firmly, completely ignoring the mechanic. “There has to be a reason that I can see you and they can’t. Has anyone else been able to see you? Touch you?”

            “STRANGE!” Tony shouted, making Peter wince.

            The sorcerer released Peter, and immediately the boy missed the affection. Man, if he did get out of this, he was going to need a hug every five seconds. “Peter Parker is standing right there, Stark. Is that good enough for you?”

            Tony’s eyes widened slowly as if he was in a horror movie. His gaze mechanically turned towards the place where Peter was. Again, their eyes met. There were tears in his eyes. “W-what?”

            “He must be caught in a time flux.” Strange glanced towards the blue mass – the thing the Hydra agents called the “Orb”. “And I see they’ve replicated the time stone. Or, tried at least.”

            “So it’s not the real stone?” Captain Rogers asked, sparing a glance at his comrade.

            Tony continued to stare, a tear slipping down his cheek.

            Strange continued to assess the situation and speak with the other Avengers.

            Peter continued to look into the unseeing eyes of his dad. “I’m okay, Tony. I’m okay. It’s alright. Don’t worry about me, okay?”

            He was having such a hard time keeping his sobs at bay. He wanted Tony. He wanted to hug him and tell him how much he loved him. He wanted to spend hours in the lab again and fix his Spiderman suit, to make bad dishes at two in the morning and sing Disney songs really loudly.

            He wanted his Dad back.

            But he knew the reality. He knew that he was dead. He knew that he had sacrificed his life to save the world. He _knew_ that.

            Which probably made it worse.

            “He’s comforting you, Stark,” Doc said absentmindedly, oblivious to the way that Tony stumbled backward, clutching his shirt over his heart. “Peter, I have a question.”

            “I want to see him,” Tony mumbled. “Make me see him, Strange. I need to see him. Let me see him, or so help me-,”

            Peter swallowed. “Dad, calm down, it’s okay.”

            “I can’t,” Strange answered curtly. “I don’t even know how I’m seeing him, Tony. I can’t make you see him if I don’t know what’s holding him here or- _oh_.”

            “LET ME SEE MY SON!” Tony screamed, the sound breaking Peter’s heart. He made to run towards the sorcerer, but he put one foot into Peter’s ghostly body and Strange cast a spell to keep him where he was at the first sound that erupted from the boy’s throat. He dove to catch him, letting Peter calm down as the burning sensation settled down to a low sizzle.

            “Peter, Peter, breathe. I know it hurts. Breathe for me, kid, okay?”

            He was trying. _Shiiiiiiiiit_. 

            “Wh-what happened?” Tony’s voice wobbled. “What did he do?”

            Doc snarled, pushing back Peter’s sweaty curls. Peter appreciated the soothing action. “He didn’t do anything. You need to calm down before you _kill_ him. Peter is currently being held in the in-between of life and death. If we’re not careful, we could rupture his small existence and destroy him. He wouldn’t be able to go on. He would just cease to exist.”

            “I-I hurt him?”

            Peter shook his head, damning the consequences as he struggled to rush over to his mentor. “No, no, it wasn’t your fault, Dad. It’s okay. I’ll be just fine. Don’t worry about me.”

            Strange sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder. “He told you not to worry. He doesn’t blame you.”            

            “Peter.” Tony sobbed out, body crumbling. “Peter, baby, I’m so _sorry_.”

            “No,” Peter shook his head furiously. “It wasn’t your fault, Dad. I chose to use the gauntlet. It’s okay.”

            The other heroes in the room exchanged wary glances.

            “So,” Falcon pursed his lips, trying not to look at Tony’s sobbing form. “You’re telling us that the ghost of the kid who died using the Infinity Gauntlet is standing in front of us right now.”

            “Queens.” Steve’s lips tilted upwards in a grin. “Man, we just can’t get rid of you, can we?”

            Peter chuckled weakly. “Good to see you too, Cap.”

            “Leave it to the teenagers to be too stubborn to stay dead.” The Winter Soldier smirked. “It’ll be good to meet you in person, Peter.”

            The sixteen-year-old glanced at Doctor Strange. “You’re going to get me out?”

            The sorcerer gave him that fond smile again. “Of _course_ I’m getting you out, Peter.”

            Peter covered his mouth with his hand.

            “You saved all our lives, Queens.” Cap nodded to where he thought the kid was (he was too left). “It’s only fair we return the favor.”

            “How long have you been back, Peter?” Strange asked.

            Peter licked his lips. “I keep coming back. Every time Hydra turns on the machine, I come back. Every time they turn it off, I die again. Or, I go back to the in-between.”

            Strange shot up. “Colonel Rhodes, Sergeant Barnes, go check the monitors over there. Get me a date of their first experiment.”

            “Pete…” Tony whispered. God, he wanted to comfort him so badly, but Peter couldn’t touch him. He wouldn’t feel it anyway.

            “Is there anyone else with you?”

            Peter nodded. “I hear people a lot, and sometimes I can see faces. Well, Natasha’s with me, but not all the time. She appears every so often. We think it’s because her death was too distant but not distant enough for her to be here all the time or not at all.”

            “Natasha?” Strange blinked. “As in Natasha Romanoff?”

            “Natasha?” Bucky, Sam, and Steve all asked at the same time, each in their own strangled way.

            “Is she with him?” Winter Soldier asked fervently.

            “Is she okay?” Sam’s head whipped to the sorcerer from where he stood next to Bucky.

            “Can you get her back?” Cap walked closer, eyes searching the room as if he could see her by sheer force of will.

            “I don’t know.” Doctor Strange admitted. “James, do you have a date for me?”

            “Almost,” Rhodey answered.

            “Natasha’s nice.” Peter closed his eyes, resting against Doc’s cloak. “She can sing in Russian. It’s really pretty.”

            His heart squeezed at the thought of the redhead. She had told him the story of her death.

            “How is he?” Tony whispered. “Is-is he alright?”

            Doc sighed, reaching forward and running his hands through Peter’s hair. The kid giggled at the feeling, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks. It felt so damn good to feel alive again, to feel like he wasn’t some mistake, caught between life and death with no hope of escape. Doc’s fingers in his curls were warm and soft. He leaned into his palm, relishing the sensation of being a kid, just for a few seconds. Even if they didn’t succeed, even if Peter was stuck in the limbo forever, he would be okay.

            If he closed his eyes, he could imagine that it was Dad’s hands.

            “He’s malnourished, even though I have no idea how you can become malnourished if you’re dead.” The fingers didn’t stop their ministrations. In fact, Doc brought Peter into his side. “He’s incredibly cold and pale. If we figure this out and get him back, he’ll need to be in a hospital for a while. He’ll need magical and normal assistance.”

            “But he’ll live?” Tony begged.

            Peter opened his eyes slightly, watching the tears that escaped his father’s eyes. He wanted nothing more than to wipe them away.”

            Doctor Strange sighed. “I don’t know. I’ve never resurrected someone from the dead before. Despite what you think of my ego, I’m not God.”

            “June!” Rhodey shouted suddenly. “June 1, 2023.”

            The other men’s eyes widened.

            “He’s been here for two years?” Bucky breathed, almost afraid of the truth of that answer.

            “That was barely more than a month after he died,” Steve said in shock. “They’ve been trying to bring Thanos back for two years?!”

            “Imagine if they’d succeeded.” Sam swallowed.

            “Two years?” Tony whimpered. “Pete’s been stuck here for two whole years?”

            Peter sighed. “Two years isn’t so bad. I mean… at least I didn’t have to go to school.”

            Strange shook his head at his dismal attempt at humor. “Your childishness sometimes astonished me. I understand it now, though. You use it as deflection.”

            Peter shrugged. “Helps me not be so afraid. If I can laugh at something, it doesn’t seem as scary.”

            “You’re really mature for someone so young.” He chuckled.

            “Thanks, it’s the trauma.”

            Doc flicked his ear. Peter laughed. It felt so damn good to laugh.

            “Can you find the longest running experiment?”

            Rhodey nodded, searching the screens in front of him. “Um, the longest runtime was two weeks.”

            Strange blinked in shock. “The thing was open for two whole weeks once? No wonder you look dead, Peter. This thing is sapping all of your energy. If we don’t get you out of there it won’t matter if they bring back Thanos or not. You will cease to exist anyway.”

            “What can you do?” Tony asked.

            “I can try something,” Doc answered, standing and helping Peter to his feet. “It’s risky, but it might be our only shot. Peter?”

            The sixteen-year-old stared into the eyes of his dad. He imagined the two years that Peter had been dead and the five before that. He imagined the many times that Tony had cried over him – hell, he had heard some of them, the heartbreaking cries of his father seeping through even the cracks between life and death.

            “Let’s do it.” Peter nodded. Even if it didn’t work, then at least he wouldn’t have to be a ghost anymore. He would just be nothing.

            Doctor Strange nodded, taking a step backward. “I need all of you to back away. I don’t know how the fake stone and that glowy stuff with react to this.”

            Tony stayed just a second. “Peter?”

            “Yeah?” He knew that Tony couldn’t hear him. But when had wishing hurt anyone?

            “I love you so much, kiddo. No matter what happens, and fuck, I am praying so hard right now that this works, but if it doesn’t, I want you to know that you made the biggest impact on my life. I can never forget you or ever stop loving you, okay? You’re my- you’re my baby, Peter. I love you, kiddie.”

            Peter wiped the tears from his eyes.

            “Like, two thousand.” Tony smiled, and at that moment, he thought that maybe his dad had seen him.

            He gasped. “You watched the Peter Pan Protocol.”

            “Okay, see you on the other side, Peteypie. Good luck.”

            Doctor Strange looked at him intently. “Are you ready Peter?”

            He glanced at Tony’s retreating back. He thought of all the whispered phrases he’d heard, all the times that Dad had said his name to people, all the cries and begging and questions. He thought of Hammy, of his Aunt and Ned and MJ. He thought of Uncle Rhodey and Pepper, of Midtown and the life that he’d missed. He thought of Queens, of Mr. Delmar and Murph.

            He thought of Spiderman.

            He thought of Peter.

            “I think so.”

            “Then close your eyes and hold your breath.”

            Peter obeyed. There was a flash of light and then nothing.

           

 

            He winced as his eyelids fluttered open.

            He was back in limbo.

            Peter swallowed down his tears. He should have known that it wasn’t going to work. “No. No, no no! Please! Doctor Strange? Doctor Strange?!”

            No answer. He ran in every direction, his feet loud against the giant yellow expanse of the limbo world. Peter whirled around, trying to see or hear any indication that it had worked, that someone was there to get him back.

            “No!” He cried, feeling like a child. “NO! Doctor Strange! DAD! _DAD_!”

            Please, please not. Come back.

            “Daddy.” He sobbed dryly, falling to his knees. “Daddy come back. Please don’t leave me here.”

            Silence.

            “Peter?”

            He glanced up. “Oh. Hey, Nat.” he took her outstretched hand and stumbled to his feet.

            “What happened this time?” she asked cheekily.

            “D- Tony was there. And Doctor Strange. And Captain Rogers, Falcon, and Winter Soldier too. They discovered what Hydra was doing. They were trying to save me.”

            Her smile fell to a sympathizing frown. “Those idiots. Only they would tamper with the powers of life and death.”

            “Yeah.” He nodded, trying not to let it get to him. What was it that Gandalf said? _A fool’s hope_?

            “I thought that… maybe it could…” he cleared his throat.

            “Oh, Peter.” Natasha pulled him close. He tucked his head under her chin, the tears finally breaking through his mask.

            “I thought that since he could see me that he could save me.” Peter swallowed again, closing his eyes against the pain and the realization that it would never work.

            He was stuck here.

            Then he heard the sling ring. Peter whirled around so fast he almost fell over. There was Doctor Strange, grin triumphant. Peter broke into a run and threw himself into the sorcerer’s arms, hugging him tightly around the middle, completely ignoring the fact of whether he wanted it or not.

            “You did it!” he was going back. He was going _home_!

            “Well, I don’t have you back just yet. Follow me.” The wizard broke away and held out his hand.

            “Nat!” Peter turned around, beckoning the assassin towards them. “Let’s go!”

            She didn’t walk forwards, so Peter went to grab her.

            “Come on, Nat. We’re going home!”

            She looked over his head at Doctor Strange. Something settled in her eyes.

            Her hand slid out of his.

            Peter looked at her, brows furrowed. “You – you’re coming too.”

            She looked at him with so much fondness that Peter couldn’t help but smile. “I can’t, Peter. And I think you know that.”

            “No.” he shook his head, fully turning away from the sorcerer t face the woman who had become his crazy assassin aunt. “No, you have to come back with me. They _miss_ you.”

            And how naïve of him. People didn’t just come back to life if you missed them. he knew that well enough.

            “She’s too far in the past, Peter. This whole thing that Hydra is doing is focused on one point in time.” Doctor Strange’s voice was trying to be soothing. “Natasha’s just too distant.”

            “No.” Peter moaned, tugging on her hand. “No, please.”

            She just smiled at him and leaned down to kiss his forehead. “Why do you think I’m here, Peter? The only reason I’ve stayed in “limbo” so long was too… well.”

            “What?” He shook his head, tears returning. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t just go back without her!

            “I’ve been waiting for you.” She whispered, gently stroking his cheek. “I’m just here to make sure you get back, Little Spider. I’ll pass on once you go back.”

            “No, please,” he repeated, as if his words would change the truth. “We can fix it. Just come _with_ _me_.”

            The assassin squeezed his hand. “Goodbye, Little Spider.

            He sniffled. “I won’t forget you, Natasha.”

            Even now, her body was disappearing before his eyes.

            “I love you.” He whispered.

            A look of complete calm settled over her face, and for the first time since he’d met Natasha, she finally looked at peace.

            “Goodbye.”

            He turned just as her eyes closed and grabbed Doctor Strange’s hand.

            “Ready?”

            He thought of Tony’s smile, May’s laugh.

            Natasha’s hugs.

            “Yeah.” He nodded.

            And he stepped through the portal, hoping that it lead to home.

           

 

 


	3. Let the Past Take a Bow, the Forever Is Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You forget, Thanos, that I won last time. There’s no version of this where you come out on top!” Peter repeated the yanking action, this time throwing his entire body weight into kicking the titan into the wall. He succeeded, landing skillfully onto the ground.
> 
> The glowy green thing hummed against his chest.
> 
> Peter snarled as green circles with ancient writings began to surround his wrists. This was the Time Stone. This was one of the six infinity stones and Peter was in charge of it. He understood how someone could become addicted to this kind of power, and this was only one of the collection. “You forgot something else.”
> 
> But he was Peter. He understood what he had to do.
> 
> “And what,” Thanos gasped, voice hoarse and breathing heavy. “Is that, wretch?”
> 
> “With great power comes great responsibility, dipshit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all. Badass Peter Parker is where it's AT.  
> We don't get enough Badass Peter Parker fics, so I'm contributing.  
> I don't own Marvel.   
> ALSO if you haven't noticed, all the titles are somehow related to Mary Poppins or Mary Poppins Returns because I'm me. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

He was being held. “What the…”

Someone was sobbing and he was shaking. Or he was being shaken. Maybe they were both sobbing.

Peter coughed. Voices began to register.

“… going to squeeze him to death, Stark. Calm down.”

“Peter, Peter, Peter.” The mantra continued as the boy began to gain his bearings. He was warm, so comfortably warm and safe that he never wanted to leave. His head hurt a lot, and he hoped that Doctor Strange and Mr. Stark and the others hadn’t just been a really weird dream or some stupid side effect of being in the real world for too long. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed, he could hold onto the memory for just a second longer.

 _Please_ , he begged. _Please just let me have **this**_.

“Peter.” The voice repeated, and Peter’s eyes shot open.

Tony Stark was running his hands through the boy’s wild locks, tears streaming down his face. He was the one shaking, and by association shaking Peter, and rocking back and forth as he gripped the kid tighter into him. Peter was filled with such emotion that he felt tears prick his eyes at the sight of his dad-figure, so close and warm and safe. He could hardly believe it. After all that time – two whole years according to Doctor Strange – he was still there! He still had those brown eyes, that kind smile, that goatee.

It _had_ led to home.

“I told you I had it, Mr. Stark.”

Tony crumbled against him, and suddenly it became Peter holding him up instead of the other way around. His body met the cold floor as he grabbed Tony’s shoulders – grabbed. He could touch him _oh my god I can touch him_ – to steady his mentor before he ate it against the ground. He was overwhelmed by the childish glee and excitement that ran through his veins as Tony continued to plead his name, sobbing into Peter’s suit-

The suit. The suit was fixed! It clung to him like it was supposed to. Peter felt stronger, like before he had used the gauntlet. He felt all the familiar muscles and tendons of his youthful hero form like he was supposed to. He could feel the broadness of his shoulders, the strength in his arms. “My suit…”

“I assume it has to do with the whole “returning from the dead” shtick.”

Peter raised his eyes, disbelieving grin mirrored with less enthusiasm on the sorcerer’s face. “Hello, Peter.”

“Doctor Strange.” He gasped in delight. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Doc, I can’t ever repay you. Anything you need, I-,”

He held up a hand. “There’s no need, Peter. You alive is the only payment that I need.”

Beyond the wizard was Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier, and War Machine, all staring at Peter as if he was a miracle. And, I guess he was. “Um, hi.”

“Hey, Pete.” Rhodey chuckled, walking over to lay an armored hand on the shoulder that wasn’t gripped in a vice by Tony’s hand. “Geez, kid, it’s so good to see you.”

“You too, Uncle Rhodey.” The sixteen-year-old swallowed the tears threatening to crawl up through his throat. “I missed you.”

Rhodey sniffed, ruffling his hair. “Missed you too, kid. Just wait till Happy sees you. He might actually cry.”

“Fat chance.” Peter chuckled. “Hello, Mr. America, sir. Mr. Winter Soldier. Mr. Falcon.”

The latter two exchanged amused looks. Steve stepped forward and placed his hand where the colonel’s had been. “Good to have you back, Queens.”

“Good to be back.” He breathed, looking around at the world. It was so beautiful. Even this Hydra base, surrounded by walls of stone and iron, were real. _He_ was real.

“Missed you too.” Tony’s disgruntled voice interjected.

“Ah, Tones,” Rhodey smirked. “Feeling left out? Don’t want to share the Spiderbaby?”

From the way Mr. Stark was gripping him, Peter didn’t imagine he’d be sharing him with anyone for several decades.

“Hey, Mr. Stark?”

The face he adored lifted, and those matching brown eyes with it. “Dad, kid. You called me Dad. Let’s stick with that.”

Peter grinned, his heart practically beating out of his chest with happiness. “Your mom says hi.”

Tony’s jaw went slack, and his eyebrows rose in awe. “W-what?”

“She’s proud to call you her son.” He leaned closer, rubbing his arms up and down Tony’s shoulders.

“You met my mom?” he whispered

“Well, kind of. She-,”

“ _Spider_.”

Peter froze, ice shooting up his spine faster than a bullet. The title was dripping with so much poison that he recoiled. He dropped Tony and stumbled to his feet, eyes searching for the voice. In the few seconds before he saw him, he begged any god listening that it wasn’t real. That he had left that monster in the past. That if Natasha didn’t get to come back then he sure as fuck didn’t.

When had his Parker Luck done him any good?

Thanos knelt at the other end of the chamber, eyes almost glowing with hatred. He didn’t have a gauntlet, but even without it, Peter’s spider-sense was tingling. How he hadn’t noticed it before, he didn’t know. Being dead might have had something to do with it.

“Pete?” Tony immediately followed, reaching for his kid. “Peter? What’s wrong?”

A horrible realization settled into Peter’s bones. “Y-you can’t see him?”

Cap’s brows furrowed. “See who, kid?”

Fuck.

“Who else is here, Peter?” Doctor Strange stepped forward, opening the glowy green thing on his necklace. “Who came back with you?”

“Oh.” The mad Titan smirked. “Seems that your allies will be no help to you this time, Spider. I will tear you limb from limb for what you did.”

“Can’t we just call it even and not?” Peter stammered. He probably looked insane to the other heroes. They couldn’t see Thanos. He looked like he was talking to air. “I mean, I killed you, you kind of killed me because of it? I mean, you did create the gauntlet, and wielding it ended up … killing me. So, we’re square?”

Tony stilled next to him. “Thanos.”

Peter giggled, but in the way that insane people do. “Heh. Yeah. Um, yeah. He’s right over there. And you can’t see him which probably means that you can’t touch him either. So ya boi-,”

“Is going to have to fight me alone.” The villain’s smirk grew into a grin, and Peter forced himself from taking a step backward. He couldn’t show fear right now. He didn’t have the liberty. “You were the cause of my destruction, Spider. Do you really think that you could run from me?”

“Wait,” Falcon waved his arms. “You’re telling me that the purple dude we fought so hard to beat is back? And _we can’t beat him this time_?!”

“I mean, I wasn’t really thinking about it at the time,” Peter admitted to the titan. “I was kind of dying.”

“And so you will again,” Thanos sneered, standing to his full height. He towered over Peter from across the room and the boy had to deliberately think about evening out his breaths. “You ruined everything.”

“We’re getting out of here.” Tony grabbed Peter’s wrist and began to drag him towards the exit.

“No.” Peter shook his head, tearing out of his dad’s grip. “I have to beat him.”

The devastation across Tony’s face was almost enough to make him recant.

Almost.  
“I already lost you twice.” the man croaked. “Is that not enough?”

“No one else can.” Peter heard Thanos take his first step towards him. “I have to do this.”

“Peter-,”

“The gauntlet, this,” He moved away from his mentor, the man he looked up to more than anyone. He looked at the furrowed brow, the tear still wet on his cheeks, and the heart he swore he didn’t wear on his sleeve tearing a hole in his shirt. “It’s who I am. You knew that when you met me, Mr. Stark.”

Thanos growled, but Peter kept looking at his mentor.

“I can’t, Peter.” He shook his head. “I can’t do it again.”

“Tony.” He breathed, and he couldn’t help the smile that slipped across his lips. “Tony, it’s going to be okay.”

Recognition flashed across those familiar brown eyes. “Baby, do-,”

“I’ve got this, Mr. Stark”

As he turned to fight the Titan, Doctor Strange’s cloak surrounded Peter, dropping something around his neck before returning to its owner. A shield erupted from the glowy green thing now resting against the metal of the Iron Spider suit. Shock quickly made way for instinct as he leaped to the side, the shield having a mind of its own as it twisted and turned around his body to counter each of Thanos’s attacks.

“Do you remember how to use it?” Doc yelled across the room as Peter ducked to avoid a “titan smash”.

Peter looked at him as if he were crazy. Did he remember? When the _fuck_ had Doc ever once mentioned anything about how to use the glowy green thing? “NO!”

“Then you’ll be just fine!” the wizard went to help fortify the exits with the others. Thanos could still interact with the non-living parts of reality. He was crushing the exact equipment that brought him back just as Peter flipped upwards to the ceiling.

“COME DOWN, LITTLE SPIDER.” He shouted. Even with his height, he couldn’t reach him. No gauntlet meant that it was just his own strength, which, granted, was no small thing.

But he could do this. Peter could do this. “Doesn’t sound like the best option for me, if you understand. I mean, you’re a powerful Titan and I’m just a bug, right? Doesn’t make much logical sense if you – JESUS!”

He quickly jumped to the other side of the ceiling to avoid flying tables and clicked his tongue. “Bad aim. Try again.”

Try again he did. He yeeted four tables at Peter before he realized that the “little spider” was too fast for him to hit with flying furniture. It was funny, how powerless Thanos became without the stones. They had been what gave him leadership, courage, and the belief that he could actually accomplish his goal. Without them, he was nothing. He had forgotten that.

That and the stubbornness of humans.

Peter gasped, eyes widening with realization.

“Come down here and fight me like a man, spider!” Thanos shouted, fuming on the ground below.

“I can’t.” Peter shrugged, mask finally enveloping his head. “I’m sixteen, dude.”

_“Hello, Peter.”_

Man, was he glad to hear her voice. “Hey, Karen. How are those grenade webs?”

_"Colorful.”_

He smirked. “Perfect.”

The young hero swung around the titan, shooting the grenade webs into the air around his head. "YEET!"

Blinding lights exploded when they went off and showers of different colored dust fell onto his body. Thanos cried in pain and rage at his temporary loss of sight, his pitch matching Peter’s whoop of triumph. 

“Dad! Can you hear me?”

Peter’s com sizzled to life. _“Here, kid! I’m here! What are you – oh my god, Pete!”_

“Can you see him?” the young vigilante asked, whirling around to kick the vulnerable titan in the face. He was sent stumbling into one of the tables he hadn’t thrown at him.

_Yes! Kid, you’re a genius!”_

Pride coursed through him at the compliment. “Well, you can see me and my webs, so I thought if you could see that then you could see my confetti grenades! And the colors stick, remember? So if I coat him with them-,”

_“We know where he is. Peter Parker, you are so fucking good.”_

He grinned behind the mask, but he knew that Tony could hear it through his voice. “Whenever you touched me as a ghost, it burned like hell. Light him up, Dad.”

Tony was smirking as he replied, “ _With pleasure_.”

Peter swung back towards the now purple, blue, pink, yellow, and orange titan and landed two kicks to his stomach. A red, white, and blue shield came out of nowhere and struck Thanos on the head. Peter caught it just in time and blocked a well-aimed blind counter-attack before yeeting it back towards its master.

“Thanks, Cap!” he yelled over the titan’s bellows.

“Anytime, Queens. Duck!”

He followed orders and hit the ground. Just as Thanos was regaining sight, he was assaulted by War Machine’s missiles and Iron Man’s unibeam. Falcon swooped out of the air and used his wings to body slam him. The titan groaned and punched wildly, but only succeeded in making Falcon fly away, not hit him.

However, he did hit Peter.

He flew across the room like someone had thrown a rag doll and slammed into the ground. He yelled in pain, back arching as the shriek tore from his throat.

“ _PETER_!” Tony screamed in his ear.

“COVER HIM!” Doctor Strange shouted from somewhere in the room.

“SAM, GET BUCKY!”

Peter shook his head, trying to breathe through the pain that was consuming his body. His head pounded as he lifted it from the cold floor, his vision blurring with tears and natural I-hit-my-head-and-now-there’s-three-of-everything syndrome. He definitely had two, maybe three broken ribs from that.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he swore, pushing himself up, arms shaking with the effort. He heard the heroes continue to fight and defend him, but he knew they could only do so much. Only he could see Thanos. Only he could beat the titan.

Grabbing the wall, he struggled to his feet, gaze lifting just in time to see Thanos throw Bucky off of him and into one of Hydra’s giant computers. Tony and Rhodey were busy covering Cap and Falcon as they ran to help their comrade, but Thanos, who could see his enemies, made a lightning fast grab for War Machine and caught his ankle. He threw Rhodey much like he did Peter, and Tony flew across the room to check on his friend, still trying to get his son to answer his desperate cries.

Peter coughed, wrapping an arm around his stomach.

“It seems that you still have no chance, Little Spider.” The titan growled, advancing once more towards the young hero. “Even with your cleverness, you are still no match for me.”

“What was the reason?” Peter asked, almost interrupted him.

“What?” Thanos asked, not stopping, but his face grew from furious to confused.

“Why? You had all the power in the universe, and you chose to murder billions of innocent people.” He swallowed, taking a deep breath to settle his racing heart and aching chest. “What drove you to do that? You could have done so much _more_.”

“Balance had to be restored.” The alien snarled, large hands turning into fists. He was closing in. “It was my duty.”

Peter shook his head. “You could have destroyed disease, fixed starvation. Ended wars! And yet you chose to be a supervillain asshole. Dude, what happened? Did someone spit in your hotdog when you were a kid or something?”

" _Peter, what are you doing?”_ Tony’s terrified tone sobered the boy.

“You are the most annoying insect that I have ever had to squash.”

“Obviously you didn’t have to fight Beeman.” Peter quipped, rolling his shoulders and standing straight. “He’s a douchebag.”

The titan threw a punch. Peter caught the fist, the look of fear that flashed across Thanos’s eyes giving him a dose of vigor. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” His arrogance wasn’t helping him in any way. He tried to grab Peter, but the teenager propelled himself under the titan’s legs, webbing the sides of his head and yanking him backward. His knee collided harshly with the titan’s skull. He didn’t need his superhearing to know that familiar _crack_.

“You forget, Thanos, that I _won_ last time. There’s no version of this where you come out on top!” Peter repeated the yanking action, this time throwing his entire body weight into kicking the titan into the wall. He succeeded, landing skillfully onto the ground.

The glowy green thing hummed against his chest.

Peter snarled as green circles with ancient writings began to surround his wrists. This was the Time Stone. This was one of the six infinity stones and Peter was in charge of it. He understood how someone could become addicted to this kind of power, and this was only one of the collection. “You forgot something else.”

But he was Peter. He understood what he had to do.

“And what,” Thanos gasped, voice hoarse and breathing heavy. “Is that, _wretch_?”

“With great power comes great responsibility, dipshit.”

Thanos stared at him, not unlike he had when he had seen Peter wielding the gauntlet. That day seemed an eternity ago, an eternity of golden wasteland and two spiders. An eternity of voices and people he could never quite reach, of memories and experiences that weren’t his own but should have been. An eternity of Russian lullabies and soft laughter that should have come back with him but couldn’t. An eternity that Peter wasn’t supposed to be a part of.

Not yet.

“ _How_?” The titan croaked.

The hero smirked.

He fixed his hands to how he remembered Doc’s doing. His fingers probably looked super weird, but he lifted off the ground, levitating above the Mad Titan. Confidence and power radiated off of him in tsunamis, and he could feel victory falling into his grasp. His eyelids fluttered and in the millisecond between dark and light, Peter saw two years of life that he had missed. He saw Morgan and Parker Stark. He saw his own grave and DLB seated next to it. He saw Chewbacca and May sitting in their apartment as she showed the giant dog photo albums of her other good boy. He watched MJ and Ned open their college acceptance letters together in front of Peter’s tombstone, next to Ben and his parents. He saw the Avengers save people, just like they were supposed to. He saw the Spiderman Convention and all the people that were grateful to him for saving their lives in so many ways.

He saw Hammy follow Tony down that hallway as Pepper’s voice chattered about lunch.

_“It’s okay, baby. We’ll be okay.”_ __

Dad had been right. They were okay. They had _been_ okay. All of those people who loved him, who had carried on his story and remembered him not for how he died but for how he lived. They saw Peter, broken and flawed and naive, but a _hero_.

And for the first time since before that bullet had pierced his uncle’s chest, Peter saw himself that way too.

He opened his eyes. They glowed green as he stared into the depths of Thanos’s soul.

“’cause I’m Peter fucking Parker.”

He was surrounded by light, words that he didn’t know fell from his lips, and before his very eyes, Thanos de-aged to _nothing_.

Peter smirked. “Avada Kedavra, Bitch.”

Silence.

And then shouts of victory rang out from his allies. Tony slammed into Peter, grabbing him in a hug and laughing/crying scoldings and admissions of love into his hair. The boy sagged into the embrace, curling his fingers into the fabric of his dad’s shirt. Soon, arms were surrounded the both of them. Doctor Strange took the Time Stone back before wrapping an arm around the shoulder that Cap hadn’t stolen in a side hug. Bucky and Sam gave the kid congratulatory back slaps and then fist-bumped each other.

Peter just stood in the middle of them all, smiling gently and tucking his head into the space between Tony’s neck and shoulder. His place.

“Dad?”

Tony hummed softly, hands running through his son’s curls. “Yeah, baby?”

“Let’s go home.”


	4. A Sweep Is as Lucky as Lucky Can Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Who saved the world? You didn’t have your mask on then, Pete. It was just you. You’re the hero. Spiderman’s just your nickname.”
> 
> Something gleamed in the kid’s eyes and he sniffed. “Yeah?”
> 
> God, this kid was too good. How did he get so lucky? “Yeah, baby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off: thank you so much to the wonderful people leaving me comments! I will try to reply to them when I have more time! You all are all amazing and I am so thankful. Reading them is a really great pick-me-up recently. 
> 
> Second off: Just a little thing, because so many of you are awesome people - the other day I received a message about this story saying that I wasn't writing it quickly enough and I was taking to long and that I needed to stop being lazy and just finish it (in much less kind words). This message has been deleted and all that jazz, but I just wanted to let you all know that I am working on it! I promise! But I have a job, a family, and I'm working to create a portfolio for art college, all in the summer before starting my senior year. I'm super busy and on top of that, I struggle with anxiety that makes me worry constantly and to the point of not eating about little things like what pencil to use to my freaking future, and that anxiety sometimes makes me unproductive and void of... anything really. I am not saying this to make anyone feel bad at all! I know that most everyone is super supportive and I THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT IT MEANS THE WORLD.  
> And I want to keep creating. But sometimes mental illness kicks your butt and you have to lie down for a little while before you can kick it back.  
> I bring this up only to say that if you see any other people saying comments like that here or anywhere else on anyone else's anything, put a stop to it. Artists of all kinds work super hard to produce quality content, whether it be writing, music, theater, or visual arts. In a world already filled with such darkness, let's be a little bit of light and encouragement, ok?
> 
> I love you all so much! Thank you guys for everything.

Fighting the Mad Titan had sapped Peter of all his energy, it seemed. As soon as the kid realized that they were safe and the battle won, he sagged against Tony like a bag of flour. Tony guessed that being brought back to life and then having to fight Thanos did that to a kid.

“Sorry,” Peter whispered, swallowing and wincing. It must have hurt. “Just give me a minute and I’ll, um, just let me catch my breath.”

“Hey, hey,” Tony shushed him like he shushed Parker when he woke crying. He had his baby back. “We don’t need to be anywhere, kiddie. Just take a breather. The Quinjet isn’t a five minutes’ walk when we reach the surface, okay? I know stairs are annoying.”

“I didn’t used to get so winded.” The sixteen-year-old (still sixteen? God, he was still so young. How had that happened? How had Tony ever let this fetus in a suit, in space, sacrifice himself?) leaned into his dad’s side heavily, eyelids fluttering with exhaustion.

“I think you have a right to feel a little out of it, Queens.” Steve chuckled at Tony’s side. “You killed the titan that destroyed half of Earth’s population in a day almost entirely by yourself. We won’t judge if you clock out, trust me.”

Steve had offered to carry the kid. Tony had bristled and snarled like a cat at the prospect of handing his son over to anyone else. The super-soldier didn’t ask again. Besides, the kid was trying to walk by himself. He was kind of succeeding.

“My name’s Peter.” The teenager huffed, shoulders falling as he resumed the slow trek up to the upper level. Tony held his waist the entire time, making sure that the arm over his shoulder was secure so he didn’t stumble. “Not Queens. That’s just where I’m from.”

“I know.” Steve smiled fondly. “I’d be stupid not to know Peter Parker.”

The kid’s tired eyes widened and he blinked several times. His pale cheeks darkened for a moment. “Oh.”

“Great,” Sam scoffed. “The kid’s a Cap fan. When do I get any fans?”

Bucky smirked, throwing a wink to the young hero. “Whenever you actually become relevant, Ostrich.”

Peter stared at the patriotic trio with stars in his eyes.

What a nerd.

Tony grinned and kissed his son’s forehead. “Pete, your fanboy is showing.”

“Give me a break, old man,” He murmured. “I’m too exhausted to pretend not to be a little Team Cap.”

“Hey!” The dad ruffled his chocolate colored hair. “No. Bad Spiderbaby.”

_Mine. My Spiderbaby._

Peter let out a ragged breath, but he was smiling so his father took it as the closest thing he was getting to a laugh for a while. “Don’t worry, Mr. Stark. I’m your Spiderbaby.”

He had always been annoyingly good at reading his mind. “Hey, it’s Dad now, remember? I told you I liked it.”

“But you have kids already.” Peter countered. “Morgan and… and Paxton, right?”

Tony warmed all the way to his toes at the mention of his biological children. Tears brimmed his eyes. He would finally be able to introduce them to the big brother they had heard so much about. “Parker, actually.”

Peter coughed loudly, body shaking horribly with the effort. Tony, who still couldn’t believe that he had his son back in his arms, halted for the kid and gently ran his fingers through his curly locks. It had always calmed both of them down. God, he had finally accepted that he would never be able to do this again, and yet here he was with the familiar and fucking _incredible_ feeling of his boy’s hair underneath his palm. His heart hadn’t stopped trying to jump up to his throat since Strange had first said Peter’s name, and now he was here. In his arms.

His heart was beating, his chest rose and fell with every breath. He had burn marks all over his right arm that crawled all the way up to his neck. He was bruised from the fight with Thanos that day, two years prior, and five years before that. He had never been able to heal from the latter two, and Doc said that they were all catching up with him at once. He wouldn’t die, but the sorcerer said he wouldn’t be surprised if Peter decided to sleep for several days.

Tony didn’t mind. He didn’t give a flying _fuck_ what happened as long as Peter was breathing.

Stephen glanced back from the front of the pack to make sure that the young charge was okay. Tony didn’t miss the small smile that overcame his mouth. Peter seemed to have that effect on people.

“Parker?” Peter croaked, brows furrowed in adorable confusion and disbelief as he stared up at his father. “You named your kid _Parker_?”

“Yeah.” Tony swallowed the emotions bubbling up from his stomach. He couldn’t cry this early on, right? “Um, thought May deserved some kind of reward for putting up with me for so long.”

Peter’s shoulders shook a little more as his coughing settled down. “She definitely deserves something.”

“She got a dog.” The mentor cleared his throat, looking away from the pure love that shone so clearly from his baby’s eyes. “He’s a mix named Chewbacca. You’ll love him.”

“I’m sure.” His soft voice silently commanded Tony to look back at him. Tony obeyed. “I don’t think you named him after Aunt May, Mr. Stark.”

This kid wasn’t going to let him down easy, was he? Well, if anyone deserved Tony’s honesty, it was Peter. “Nah.”

The sixteen-year-old nodded knowingly and they trudged on. “Thank you.”

_For that and so much more._

Tony heard it clear as day. He hugged his son a little closer. “Always, kiddie.”

“How do you feel, Peter?” Doc asked as they got closer to the top floor.

He shrugged weakly. “Could be better.”

“Come now, Peter.” The sorcerer’s voice hardened. “I’ve only heard stories of your dismal attempt to hide injuries. Don’t assume I’m as gullible as your mentor.”

Tony glared at the wizard. “Listen here, Dumbledore-,”

“God, I hate Dumbledore.” Peter groaned. “Fucking prick.”

“As in the Headmaster?” Steve’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Why do you hate him? He’s a good guy.”

“Obviously you didn’t finish the books.” Bucky scoffed. “He’s unethical.”

“Arrogant.” The sixteen-year-old added.

“Selfish.” The assassin agreed.

“Gay.”

Sam frowned. “What’s wrong with him being gay?”

Peter shook his head. “Nothing. Except for the fact that J.K. Rowling only announced it six years after the final book was published with no support in her novels regarding that fact because she wanted to stay relevant and gain more attention and money from exploiting the LGBT community.”

Silence, for a moment.

“Shit.” The winged hero swallowed.

“Dumbledore also abandoned three different kids in abusive households, he knew that Sirius was innocent and still left him to rot in Azkaban, and he knew that Harry, a kid, was a Horcrux and he was going to have to die, and yet thought it was his place to keep that information from him because he was ‘too young.’ That and he kept Snape around, and I can’t forgive him for keeping a petty, jealous, two-faced brat as a teacher. So, as I said: fucking prick.” Peter huffed, proud of himself.

“May will not be pleased that you’ve taken my cursing habit.” Tony chuckled, having had many deep conversations about the magical book series, including a lengthier version of this mini-lecture. “And you didn’t answer the wizard’s question.”

Peter sighed. “I’m tired. I’m really sore too. I think my right arm is going to be useless to me. If I’m right, then the gauntlet’s power was more than my body could handle, but it channeled all of its power through my arm.”

The boy licked his lips and his eyes fell to the ground. Tony hated the fear that rolled across his brown irises. “I think I’m going to need a new model.”

Bucky and Tony exchanged wide-eyed stares.

“I mean,” Peter cleared his throat, his voice tinted with the wetness of tears as he continued. “I shouldn’t be surprised and all. That gauntlet was like, twice the size of my head. Why I thought I could… that I would be able to – I mean, it killed me, so I guess I wasn’t really thinking about if I would be able to use my arm after I did the whole snippity-snap thing. Heh.”

It was such a weak laugh and it made Tony’s heart hurt at the poor reflection of the large, innocent and childlike laugh that he knew Peter Parker to have.

“My enhancements and adrenaline and maybe a little bit of Doc’s magic were able to help with fighting Thanos just now, but Tony-,” brown eyes met brown, and both were shining with unshed wetness. “Tony, I can’t feel it at _all_.”

His stomach flipped and any consoling words he was preparing to say died in the face of his son’s broken admission. If he hadn’t known the kid so well, he would have thought that the tilt to his voice was pleading, begging Tony to fix it. But he did know Peter. He sometimes knew Peter better than his own biological children. He knew that Peter never expected Tony to be able to fix everything. He knew enough about messed up people to understand that they could only do everything they could. After all, that’s who Peter was. Just a messed-up kid trying to do everything he could.

“I can’t be Spiderman anymore, can I?”

Tony wanted to scream. He wanted to tear apart time and space just so that he could fix Peter Parker’s smile. No one had the right to make his lips tremble so; no one had the right to make those tears appear. He wanted to resurrect Thanos just so that he could watch the life leave his eyes after Tony tore his heart out of his chest with his two bare hands just so that he could understand a tiny bit of the pain that he had caused Iron Man’s kid.

Peter had once told him that whenever he found himself hating himself, he would put on the mask because Spiderman did things. Spiderman talked people off ledges and held up burning buildings. Spiderman saved lives. Spiderman was brave and selfless and funny and smart and ( _I’m not, Mr. Stark. I’m nothing like him and I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror sometimes because all I see is this worthless piece of shit. All I see is Penis Parker and I wish people would stop hating me because I don’t need any help doing that, Mr. Stark. I don’t need help. But when I’m Spiderman, I feel like maybe I’m worth something. That – that maybe I can do one more day_.) and Peter saw himself as so much less than that. If Peter couldn’t be Spiderman, then there would be mornings that he wouldn’t want to get out of bed. Mornings when he didn’t want to be Peter anymore.

Tony didn’t notice his own tears until Peter snorted, “We can’t both be crying, Tony. We both have reputations, after all.”

“You don’t need to be Spiderman.”

The sixteen-year-old glanced up at him at the whispered statement. He blinked in slow motion, brows furrowing just enough to remind Tony of how much of a child he really was.  “What?”

“To be a hero, Pete.” Tony swallowed. “Spiderman is just the suit. You – you’re the hero. Hell, you should know that real well. I took your suit, remember? And who still risked his life, held up a fucking building, crashed a plane, and saved the villain anyway?” he didn’t wait for an answer, instead forging on. Peter needed to know this. He needed to hear it. “You did, bud. And who was the annoying little shit that made me have a healthy sleep schedule, or who never asked for new shoes because he knew that new shoes meant May struggling more? Or who was the kid that looked at a fucking titan alien straight in the face as he was rampaging towards you and snapped? Who saved the world? You didn’t have your mask on then, Pete. It was just you. You’re the hero. Spiderman’s just your nickname.”

Something gleamed in the kid’s eyes and he sniffed. “Yeah?”

God, this kid was too good. How did he get so lucky? “Yeah, baby.”

The endearment was still as potent as it had been on that wretched battlefield. Peter couldn’t control the ecstatic smile that overtook his mouth and he leaned into him a little more, closing his eyes and trusting that his dad was going to keep him safe. He was going to make it okay.

“Besides, look at Bucky. He murdered so many people with a metal arm. You’ll be just fine.”

The reformed assassin cringed. “Yeah, great way to encourage the kid, Stark. I also save people with my metal arm, thanks.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Winter Soldier, sir,” Peter huffed in tired amusement. “I don’t need a new arm to kill people.”

Tony wasn’t sure that was supposed to be comforting and let out a confused snort. “Um, excuse me?”

“You are scarily coherent right now.” Sam pursed his lips, eyeing the kid with a sort of concerned awe. “Do you make it a habit of resurrecting from the dead?”

The joke, in hindsight, was not well thought out, seeing as that was all Peter had been doing over and over again for the past two years.

Peter, however, in his Gen Z fashion (dear lord, Tony had missed him so much), just gave the Falcon a quirky smile and replied, “Only when the world needs saving.”

Yeah. He was lucky.

“We’re almost to the top,” Doc announced, shrugging his shoulders. The red cloak unclasped itself and flew to wrap around Peter snugly. At Tony’s amused smirk, he narrowed his eyes. “It’s cold up there, Stark. It’s Russia.”

“Remind us again why we didn’t just use your magic circle thing?” Steve asked, holding out an arm for the kid to hold onto as he clambered up a particularly rickety stair (how were metal stairs rickety?).

“Using magic on Peter probably isn’t the best idea right after he returned from the dead. His body is still getting used to being alive again,” Strange answered evenly as if explaining a simple math equation. “Using the spell I did to bridge the afterlife to our world was risky enough. Did you not notice the way his body faded several times after he appeared in our world?”

Tony had. It had nearly given him a heart attack as he scrambled to grab any part of the kid that he could before he died _again_.

The sorcerer clicked his tongue. “Since I haven’t had a lot of experience dealing with Jesus Christ situations, I’m not sure that throwing Peter through a magical portal that bends space and distance is the best idea, even if it is just to the surface.”

Peter looked at the man in awe. “You’re really smart, Mr. Doctor Strange, sir.”

Tony had never seen such a soft expression appear on the wizard’s face. “Thank you, Peter.”

“Man,” Sam nodded. “I get why he had you wrapped around his finger, Tony. He’s precious.”

Tony wrapped his arm tighter around his son, heart still having a fucking party over the fact that the boy was back in his hold, safe and alive. “Yeah. He is.”

Peter rolled his eyes playfully. “I’m not a baby, Mr. Stark.”

A pointed glare.

“Tony.”

The pointed glare became pointier.

“ _Dad_ ,” he amended, but the way he said it betrayed how much he loved it.

Tony hmphed. “No, you’re _my_ baby. There’s a difference, kiddo.”

Peter didn’t seem to mind that too much and simply smiled fondly to himself, letting his heroes continue helping him up the stairs

They made it to the surface just as the sun was coming up. Tony tried to wrap the cloak tighter around his charge, but the cape had a mind of its own and securely created a Peter burrito, warding the cold away as they exited the site. The heroes would tip S.H.I.E.L.D. off about the place later, after Peter was safely in the Quinjet and on his way home.

Home. Tony could hardly believe it. They were going home.

No. No. His home was right here in his arms, bundled up in a magical cape owned by a magical wizard who had only hours before had bridged the world of living and dead to bring Tony’s home back to him.

He had finally found it again. Tony had found his home.

He felt the sob building up in his throat. He leaned down and buried his nose into those adorable curls, grinning widely as tears began to fall down his cheeks at the overwhelming emotions that filled him. They had arrived at the Hydra base to stop some time-travel-meddling fascists and had instead brought back the savior of the world and the ender of it. Peter had returned, fought a ghost Thanos that only he could see, and Tony was fairly certain that he had called the titan a bitch.

Tony did not know if he had ever been happier in his entire life.

“I love you.” He murmured into the chocolate locks. “I love you so much, Peter Parker.”

He was going to say it all the time now. It was going to be the mantra that Peter heard when he came down to breakfast in the morning and before he went to bed at night. It would be the underlying soundtrack to every stupid song that they sang together in the lab, the notes of a never-ending harmony. It would be the only words that he would ever need to complete a poem to match the work of the great William Shakespeare. It would be his hello and his goodbye, his “stay safe” and “look both ways before crossing the street.” It would be heard in his “don’t touch that, you’ll burn yourself” and his “there’s ice-cream waiting for you in the fridge”. In every little way that Tony cared for Peter, it would be blazon across his chest in bright neon colors: _I love you, Peter Parker. Don’t you dare forget it_.

The boy hummed contentedly. “I love you too, Dad.”

The group walked towards the Quinjet, each of them careful to help Peter in whatever way he needed. Eventually, it was more Tony carrying him than anything; the cloak helped. They finally entered the jet and warmth immediately seeped into each of their bodies. They let out a collective hum at the pleasant feeling, and Tony helped his son to sit as the cloak returned to its master.

“I will meet you back in New York,” Doctor Strange announced, cape dramatically falling back onto his shoulders.

“Not flying back with us, Doc?” Tony raised a brow. _Thank you_.

The sorcerer inclined his head slightly. _My pleasure_. “I can do a massive amount of research in the time it takes for you and your jet to get back to America, Stark. I want to help Mister Parker as quickly as possible, so no.”

He walked over to the pair and knelt in front of the exhausted hero. “I am very glad you’re back, Peter.”

Peter grinned and leaned forward with what was left of his strength to wrap his good arm around the wizard. “Thank you, Doctor Strange. Thank you so much.”

They all heard the tears.

“You are very welcome, Peter.” He breathed as he stood up. “I’ll be seeing you soon. Until then.”

He opened a portal, and with a two-finger salute to the Captain, he was gone.

“That’s so cool,” Peter whispered, eyelids fluttering. His shoulders were still tense, however, and his dad sighed.

Tony chuckled fondly and sat next to his sleepy charge. “You can sleep if you want, buddy. I’ll be right here the entire flight. You don’t have to be scared.”

Peter smiled. “I’m not scared.”

“Yeah?” Tony hummed, hand settling into his unruly hair and threading his fingers through it like he had so many times before.

“I’m with you,” Peter answered. “How could I possibly be scared?”

( _“Kid, listen, we’ll get help, alright? Strange’ll be here any second and he’ll fix you right up. Don’t be scared.”_

 _“I’m not_.”)

Tony sniffed, unashamed that his teammates could see the tears on his cheeks. “I watched _Mary Poppins Returns_ , you know.”

“Good movie?” even as exhausted at he was, the kid’s voice still raised in excitement.

Tony laughed, bringing the kid closer into his side. “Yeah, baby. It’s a great movie. You’ll love it.”

“I knew it would be.” Peter sighed into him, head lolling into his shoulder. “Did it make you cry?”

“Yeah,” Tony admitted softly. “It made me cry a lot.”

“Can we watch it when we get back?” he asked, a yawn interrupting halfway through.

The Iron Man nodded, pressing a kiss to his son’s forehead. “Anything you want, Peter. We will do whatever you want.”

“I missed you.”

Fuck. “I missed you too, baby. So much. So, so much, Peter.”

“Sorry I left.”

Tony closed his eyes in pain at the confession. “Hey, hey, no. Peter, you saved the world. I am so goddamn proud of you, okay? So proud.”

Peter looked up at him. “Really?”

“Really.” Tony nodded, kissing his hairline again. “And I always will be.”

The boy smiled one of his Tony-only smiles.

The hero returned the expression and continued petting his hair. He knew that if he talked enough that Peter would eventually fall asleep.

“I hung up the suit, you know.” Tony murmured. “I didn’t want to be a hero if-if you couldn’t be one. Don’t know if I’ll pick it back up now that you’re here, though. I’m too old.”

Peter scoffed quietly. “You’re always a hero, Dad.”

Tony froze, mind halting on a memory of a little robot against a metal plaque. “You heard me?”

His son met his gaze, eyes crinkled in a warm smile. “I heard you.”

“Geez, kid, what did I do to deserve you?” Tony sobbed, shoulders shaking as the emotions leaked out of him in torrents. Relief, joy, disbelief.

Peter just laughed and settled back into his side like he belonged there.

Maybe he did.

Tony wrapped both arms around the kid, pressing his cheek to his head as he continued to cry. He didn’t miss the way that Peter’s shoulders began to shake as well, and he held him tighter.

He definitely did.

Steve and Bucky sat at the front of the plane, softly musing about the sunrise and the colors it cast across the sky while Sam dug through the back of the jet to find snacks for the heroes. There was no cries of battle, no pain of bloodshed. Against his side was the most important thing in the entire world.

This was his happy ending. Right here.

Peter fell asleep twenty minutes into the flight, and Tony pulled back to wipe away the dried tears on his son’s cheeks, and his own.

Peter was beautiful. How had he never noticed that before? He stared at this kid, sixteen years old, and was astonished at how perfect he was. He wondered if this was just the years he’d denied that Peter was his kid coming back to kick him in the butt.

That was alright. He would have years and years, _ages_ to remind himself just how beautiful his son was.

Tony pulled Peter’s sleeping form into his, cradling the boy’s body as he had on that battlefield.

“Chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-ee…”

The lullaby lolled the father to sleep, and for the first time in seven years, all was well.


	5. Practically Perfect in Every Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An eternity was waiting for him too, filled with voices and people he would have forever. An eternity of memories and experiences that were his own and so precious. An eternity of Russian lullabies and soft laughter that didn’t come back with him but would always be with him. An eternity that Peter wasn’t supposed to be a part of.
> 
> Not yet.
> 
> Not yet.
> 
> When the door opened.
> 
> “Ready?” Dad asked.
> 
> Peter grinned. “Ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINAL CHAPTER WHOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO.
> 
> Yall, it's be a ride. I'm so glad you all joined me on it. From Heartbeat, which I never expected to do anything more than two chapters with, to here, I am so happy that you nerds convinced me to continue this story. I really love it, and I know you guys do to. Thank you for all the support that you have given me, Lord knows I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. You guys are incredible. 
> 
> Let me know your favorite parts in the comments and what you thought! Parts from previous installments, this installment, the series as a whole! I love to hear what you guys loved! Your opinions matter to me. 
> 
> Don't fear, I have more Peter and Tony coming. 
> 
> As always, I don't own Marvel. Just a Irondad and Spiderbaby fan. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Peter woke up to a regular beeping. It would have been comforting if it wasn’t an _ear-splitting volume_.

“Geez, Hydra, did you decide to make a really loud and annoying alarm clock? Could you have, I don’t know, not done that?” his throat strained as he slurred out the words. Swallowing hurt, and he winced in pain as his eyes fluttered open.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty,” came a voice too good to be real. “Finally waking up, are we? And you’re usually such a morning bird.”

His exhaustion be damned. Eyes shooting open, he was met with a familiar sight.

May Parker sat at the end of his bed, fingers laced through his, warm against his cold skin. Her eyes were red from crying, but her smile was more beautiful than he remembered. Some deep longing seized him, and a sob built up in his stomach. Every moment that he had been in the “in-between” and heard some distant semblance of her voice or when he had been jerked back into the real world only to die again, he had begged for his aunt. His eyes filled with tears immediately, and the beeping sound became the least important thing in all of existence nothing else mattered at all except-

" _May_ ,” he choked, and then she was holding him.

Distantly, he heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. announce that she had alerted Tony about Peter’s awakening, but at that moment all that he could think about was the arms that were around him, rubbing his back and stroking his hair – arms that he thought would never hold him again. He felt her lips on his temple, kissing his forehead and whispering a million comforts and thanks that he couldn’t understand. All Peter knew was that May was _here_ , hugging him so tightly that his injuries were groaning and God, she could _touch_ him.

“I’m back,” he sobbed, burying further into her embrace. “I’m back. Oh my god, I’m back!”

May laughed, loud and free, like she used to laugh at Uncle Ben’s stupid jokes. Peter had forgotten what true happiness felt like, but he was wonderfully reminded of the brilliant colors that came with it when that heavenly sound filled the hospital room. “Yes, my darling boy. You’re _home_.”

And he was. In the med-bay of the Compound (and that’s where he realized he was), knowing that only a few floors up was his _dad_ and Pepper and Rhodey and Happy.

“Home,” he breathed, like he couldn’t quite believe it himself.

A giggle bubbled up from within him and suddenly the childish laughter burst forth from him like a bomb. It exploded into the room, encompassing every nook and cranny, washing over everything in a joyful light and nothing could make him stop. Not the fact that he couldn’t feel his right arm at all, not the wires attached to his arms, not the soreness or the bandages around his stomach and back. Nothing, because he was home.

Finally, _finally,_ home.

“I missed you so much, Peter.” May rocked back and forth, laying her cheek against his curls. “So much, sweetie.”

“I missed you too, May,” he nodded. “But I heard you.”

She pulled back to meet his teary eyes. “What?”

“When I was… dead,” and didn’t that word feel odd on his tongue. “I wasn’t really dead, I don’t think. I was stuck in limbo, with Nat and-,”

“Nat?” his aunt cupped his cheek softly and he leaned into the touch, knowing it was helping both of them believe the reality that he was alive.

“Natasha.” He explained softly. It hurt to think of her, but he also knew that she was happy and safe and having a party in heaven. She was watching her family from up there like a guardian angel. And he knew that he’d see her again. “Black Widow.”

“You were in Purgatory with Black Widow?” May sputtered, blinking several times to convey her surprise.

Peter shook his head. He still couldn’t feel his arm. “Not Purgatory. More like… King’s Cross Station from the eight Harry Potter movie. You know, where he meets Dumbledore again?”

His aunt nodded, so he continued. “But I could hear things happening in the real world while I was there. I heard you talking to Chewie – um, great name, by the way, I can’t wait to meet him; you know how much I love dogs – and I could hear Tony and Pepper and Morgan, May. I have a little sister and she hears bedtime stories about me and -!”

He paused, eyes widening. “Oh my gosh, Parker. I get to meet Parker. I never thought… I didn’t think I’d ever get to – I mean, I’m – I’m back and I can’t-,”

Sobs overwhelmed him again and he reached up to cover his face. Only his left arm moved up.

Peter coughed, “What…”

His eyes fell, and tears may have clouded his eyes, but no amount of misty vision could block the sight before him.

“Oh, Peter, they had to cut it off. It was so disfigured… Tony wasn’t sure how on earth you fought with it when you first reappeared. Sam said that the damage was so severe.”

His right arm was completely gone. Cut off at the shoulder, he was staring at the place where his arm should have been.

 “Honey? Are you okay?”

“I – um, I don’t-,”

The door flew open and Iron Man stumbled into the room.

The arm didn’t matter. Not in the face of Tony’s smile.

“Heyah, kiddie.” He whispered.

Peter huffed out a laugh and reached around May, holding out his hand in a grabbing motion. Tony understood immediately and practically launched himself across the room to hold his son.

“Oh, god, kid, it’s so good to see you awake. You weren’t looking all that hot when we got back, but I knew that I wasn’t losing you again, so we hooked you up to some crazy painkillers and they, well, you’ve noticed the lack of arm by now, I’m sure. But don’t worry, we can fix that.”

This was all said very quickly, but Peter didn’t mind. He had always been able to keep up with Tony’s rambling. Besides, he could hear the tears in his dad’s voice, so he didn’t complain. “Can I have a cool arm like Mr. Winter Soldier?”

It was a silly request, he knew that. But if someone as cool as Bucky Barnes could be a hero without an arm, then so could he.

Tony and May both laughed, gripping him tighter.

“Kid, you can have anything you damn well want,” Tony answered wetly. “I will give you half of my company right now, if it’ll make you happy – which is slightly counter-intuitive, seeing as you’re going to inherit it anyway. I don’t care what you want, you’ve got it. A new car, a fucking Pegasus. I can wrangle Thor into giving Mjolnir, if you want it, Peter.”

He sobbed happily (if someone can do such a thing) and pulled back to look at Tony. The unadulterated love that glowed back at him warmed him all the way to his toes and he couldn’t help the wide grin that overtook his mouth. “Man, and I thought you spoiled me before.”

“Kid, I just redecorated your whole room and remade my lab into _our_ lab,” Tony said in mock seriousness. “I am barely fucking started.”

The trio all laughed and embraced again, and Peter didn’t think there was any person happier in the entire world than he.

Tony ran a hand through his kid’s hair. “God, Pete, I’m so glad that you’re here.”

“Well, you came and saved me, Dad,” he said the title slowly, just to make sure he was still okay to use it. If anything, Tony smiled all the brighter.

“Always, kiddo. I will always save you,” he leaned forward and kissed Peter’s nose. “Besides, you did the whole ‘sacrifice myself for the entire universe’ thing, so I had to repay you somehow, right?”

May flicked her nephew’s ear. “Which is never allowed again, do you hear me?”

“Agreed,” Tony concurred. “Ever.”

Peter smiled, knowing that neither really meant it. They both knew that if something like Thanos ever happened again, that if the world needed saving, Peter wouldn’t be able to just step aside. Being a hero was who he was – mask or no – and his heart was too big to just walk away. “Hey, being the Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman for the rest of time is a-okay by me.”

His dad heard the underlying question there and hummed reassuringly, stroking Peter’s temple as he held his chin. “Don’t worry, baby. You won’t be wearing spandex for a while, but after you heal, well, we can build you a new arm together, and Spiderman’ll be swinging through New York like he never left.”

May bumped Tony’s shoulder. “We’ll be trippily protective and the most helicopter parents, but if you want to, sweetie, then we won’t stop you. You’re a hero, after all.”

Peter nodded, wiping tears from his eyes. A fruitless endeavor, because they were quickly replaced. “I love you guys so much.”

Both adults were blubbering again, and the only logical thing to do was hug their son senseless.

So, they did.

Amidst the crying and assurances, he heard May say, “Ben would be so proud of you.”

Peter believed her.

Hours passed, it seemed, between the three of them. Stories were exchanged, they both asked every five minutes if he was okay, if anything hurt, if they needed to dial down the lights, to which Peter would always answer honestly. On any other occasion, he would have found the overbearing concern annoying, but he guessed that they had earned it.

“Yeah, it was weird,” he was saying about the in-between world. “I could hear pieces of conversations and stuff. Which reminds me,” he touched Tony’s shoulder. “You’re always a hero, Mr. Stark.”

Tony gasped. "You heard me?"

"I heard you." He answered. “And I heard you sing to me and talk to Hammy about how I used to always wear mismatched socks and sing really loudly to Taylor Swift but also could belt out the eighties classics like a boss. Not all the time, and usually only a few minutes, but it helped me survive, I guess. I got lonely, but whenever I heard you,” he glanced between them. “I knew that you were okay and that if you could keep going so could I.”

May and Tony stared at him like he was impossible.

“What did this world do to deserve you, kid?” Tony breathed.

Peter shrugged.

The door opened again. Happy Hogan, War Machine, Captain America, Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Pepper Potts all stood at the threshold.

“PETER!” Rhodey let out a triumphant shout, running forwards to hug him. “Kid, am I glad to see you.”

He laughed, patting Rhodey’s shoulder. “You too, Rhodey. Thanks for finding me, yeah?”

“No problem kid.” He nodded, eyes twinkling. He could already tell that Mario Cart would be played the second that he got out of this bed and into the lounge. They had an old challenge to settle.

“Dude, it’s so good to see you awake!” Sam Wilson clapped the boy on the back. Peter tried not to be overwhelmed by the number of heroes in _his_ hospital room.

‘Keep the nerding out to a minimum, Pete.’ “It’s so awesome to finally meet you. In person, I mean. Without the suit. Because I kind of met you in Germany and I fought you – sorry about that, by the way, I was just-,”

“Whoah,” Sam threw his hands in the air. “Slow down there, kid. I see how you and Stark get along. He needs somebody who can outtalk him.”

“Watch it, Wilson,” Tony snapped playfully. “I know that look. You snatch up my kid and I’ll tie up your wings with sparkly rubber bands.”

The Falcon leaned in like he was telling the young vigilante a secret. “He’s kind of protective, isn’t he?”

Tony slapped his head.

“Ow.” Sam groaned but threw a wink at Peter. He knew they were going to get along just fine.

Steve Rogers was his next bedside visitor with Sergeant Barnes right behind, and Peter was trying so hard not to geek out on him. This was _the_ Captain America, the man who was mentioned all over his AP US History book, who saved the world more times than Peter had fingers. “Heyah, Queens. Good to see you.”

“Good to see me too.” He squeaked. “I mean you too. Good to see you too.  I’m such a big fan, Mr. Captain America Rogers, sir. I have your trading cards, sir. Me and Ned have the complete set together and I always dreamed of having you sign them and that was more than you needed to know, sorry, sir.”

Steve stared for a moment before his face was enveloped by a warm grin. “Kid, I’ll sign anything you want as long as you stay around. I’ve heard you’re quite the talent at Mario Cart.”

“I’m not that good.” He stuttered, blush rising in his cheeks. “I mean, I’ve played for a really long time, that’s all.”

“Lies.” Rhodey hissed from the end of his bed.

Peter smiled. “Okay, I’m a little good.”

“Then Buck’s gonna have to challenge you,” Steve jerked his head back to his friend. “He’s the best in the house.”

“Better than Pepper?”

“Pepper plays Mario Cart?!” Sam yelled in shock. “You play Mario Cart?”

The ginger woman smiled gently, never taking her eyes away from Peter’s when he found her. “Only when my boy asks me too.”

He grinned shyly. Pepper had always been his surrogate mom. She had stepped into her role almost immediately after Tony started acting like his dad. She sounded a lot like what his mom sounded like, he thought, and he was sure that his mom would approve of his choice.

She walked towards him and sat next to her husband, leaned down to kiss Peter’s forehead. “Hey, Button.”

Overwhelmed with feelings, Peter closed his eyes and focused on how amazing her touch felt. “Hey, Miss. Potts.”

She chuckled, pulling him close and kissing his forehead again. “Oh, darling boy, I missed you so much.”

He cried. May and Pepper, the two women who loved him the most in his life, were both here. They were sitting beside him, and they were hugging him, and he was thrilled. “I missed you too, Ironmom.” The nickname made the room laugh. “I might call you just Mom now, if that’s alright. Didn’t do it when I had the chance and dying puts a few things in perspective, you know?”

“Peter Parker, nothing on earth would make me happier.”

He couldn’t help but agree.

Pepper pulled away slowly, fingers lingering on his cheek. Man, Mary Parker was looking down from heaven and grinning like crazy, he could tell.

‘I’m doing alright, Mom. I’m doing alright.’

And finally, he raised his eyes to meet Happy’s. the man was standing still, one foot still halfway in the corridor and half in the room.

Peter swallowed, trying to keep his new sobs at bay. It didn’t work. “Heyah, Happy. Long time no see.”

The bodyguard advanced slowly, eyes wide and unbelieving. No one spoke as he walked across the room to Peter’s bedside. No one mentioned that his hands were shaking. He hesitantly placed both hands on the teenager’s shoulders. He froze for a second as if he didn’t really believe it until he touched Peter, and then he was pulling Peter into his arms. Applause and whoops sounded around the med-bay and Peter couldn’t stop crying for the life of him.

He was back, surrounded by his family, without an arm and without a care in the world.

Spiderman could swing webs. He could beat up bad guys and life buildings off his back.

But Peter Parker? Peter Parker had it all.

The road to recovery was slow, but Tony and May were walking with him every step of the way, as well as Pepper and all his adopted Super Aunt and Uncles. It was Peter, in the end, who actually made the choice to put Spiderman on hold, knowing that the trauma that would surely come would need to be dealt with, as well as all the trauma he definitely didn’t deal with before, and Peter Parker, for the first time since he got his powers, was more important than the web-slinging hero.

He met Morgan and Parker and instantly knew that he would die for both of them in a heartbeat (they took after their dad, he guessed). Parker had an unnatural connection to Peter, and the young hero was an immediate calming influence whenever the child was upset. He constantly wanted to be held and coddled by his big brother, something that Peter was all too willing to supply, and something that Pepper and Tony were all too willing to encourage. They also joked that Parker had a “Peter Sense”; he knew, as a one-year-old, whenever Peter was upset before anyone else (besides May and Tony of course), sometimes even before Peter himself. He would crawl over to his big brother and wiggle his tiny hands up and squeal, “Baby!” and Peter would pick him up and twirl him around and if he ended up crying into Parker’s ginger curls, no one thought the less of him, least of all Parker.

Tony became a puddle of goo the first time he walked in on his eldest singing his youngest to sleep as he walked around the living room, baby in arms, Italian words spilling off his tongue as if he were native to it.

Morgan hung off of Peter like he was a jungle gym, and preferred racing him in Mario Cart or riding around on his back singing loud Disney ballads than the quiet activities that her little brother did with him. Peter treated her like a princess and was always ready to play with her at the drop of a hat. The first time that she called him “big brother”, Peter had to excuse himself from the conversation to go and cry in the bathroom out of sheer happiness before coming back and hugging her for a solid eight minutes.

Pepper became his mother in every sense of the word. Sometimes he felt she was more of a parent than Tony. She coddled him like you wouldn’t believe and kissed his cheek more times a day than anyone thought necessary, but he didn’t mind. He grew incredibly close to her and found that he could go to her about anything, no matter how small, and she would run her fingers through his hair and reassure him that everything was okay.

She was amazing, and Peter often said that he didn’t deserve her. She often smacked the back of his head for saying something like that.

“You deserve the _world’s_ love, Button,” she’d always say. “I’m just part of that world.”

Peter always won at Mario Cart, no matter who he was up against, but Bucky got close to beating him a few times. He spent as much time as he could with the Avengers, finding that he had a place long before he had come back, and he fit into it perfectly. They all adored him in their own way, but he found that he shared a special bond with Bucky and Steve. As soldiers, they had experienced things that they would never forget, and sometimes when Peter awoke from nightmares or couldn’t breathe just right, they were the first people he went to. He could trust them with anything, and they no longer were heroes up on pedestals. They were his friends, and they would risk head and hide for him, just as he would for them.

When he saw Ned again, they both wept. The friendship bracelet that Peter had given him when they were eleven still adorned his wrist and seeing it made the hero weep even harder. They clung to each other desperately, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house at their reunion.

When he saw MJ again, she kissed him.

“Two years apart isn’t all that bad,” she smiled, cheeks darkened with a blush. “I was taller than you before anyway. If you’re still up for it, I mean.”

Peter blinked in shock but soon he was smiling too.

He had a good thing going.

Happy watched Peter like a hawk, but Peter didn't mind. He hugged the kid more too, which of course Peter was more than happy to oblige him. He and Peter walked a lot in the evenings when he needed to just get out of the Tower or Compound and have quiet for a few minutes. They talked a lot about dealing with anxiety and depression. That and Happy dating his aunt, but Peter mostly brought that up to watch Happy turn redder than a tomato. He was happy for them (pun definitely intended) because anything that made the world a little bit brighter for his family was fantastic in his mind. It didn't hurt that they were cute together. 

May, of course, was May. She loved him more than Peter could ever understand. Her, he, and Chewie went on walks around Central Park every Saturday morning. She gave him dating advice and he went shopping with her. They were the dynamic duo, unstoppable when it came to nerf gun fights and prank wars. They moved to the Tower with Tony, Pepper and the kids, and Peter was never happier to see his family in one place.

Tony, as anyone can expect, was a constant. As soon as Peter could get out of his hospital bed, he was making up for lost time. He became Dad, Mentor, and Teacher since Peter had been out of school for so long. Tony decided to homeschool him and tutor him himself, with a little help from Steve or Bucky when it came to history, and the kid was so advanced and brilliant that he “graduated” high school in six months. They spent _days_ just in each other’s company and couldn’t want for more. Hammy followed them around like the robotic puppy he was and even though Peter designed him, he stuck to Tony like glue. He was happy to know how many times the little guy had helped his dad. The arm that the pair designed was much more complicated than it used to be, but they were the Stark boys; anything less was unusual.

They watched _Mary Poppins Returns_ together and neither could stop crying. It became their movie, exclusively theirs, and whenever Peter had a panic attack or woke up in the throes of a nightmare, Tony immediately began to hum the songs or quote the wise words of the magical nanny. It was their thing. Peter loved it.

Therapy was rough, but it helped. Talking about the two years that he had been in limbo was hard, and he cried more days than not, but Sam was patient. He and Peter got closer through his sessions, and he learned a lot about Peter that many people didn’t know. He helped Peter deal with Ben’s death in a healthy way and to realize that it wasn’t his fault, but he told Peter that if he felt that way some days, that was okay too. Guilt doesn’t disappear just because you realize you don’t have to feel it. He was the first person besides May to know about Skip (Tony legitimately lost it when Peter finally told him, shouting and screaming about “haven’t you [Peter] suffered enough? Haven’t the gods or whatever controlling fucktards out there decided that you have dealt with more than you will ever deserve?!” But it was Steve that found the guy and beat him senseless.) Sam said it was okay to still cry about that too because that kind of pain stays for a long time. He helped Peter process Toomes and the building falling on him and being claustrophobic, and how Peter _was_ strong enough to face his fears.

He was right.

Peter was good. He was great. And yeah, he had days when the darkness was everywhere and he felt alone again, like no one could touch him and he was just a ghost. But there was always someone to grab his hand and catch him before he fell. He had people that loved him millions, not just three thousand, and would do anything for them.

He was perfect. Practically perfect in every way.

It was a Sunday afternoon, an hour after he had arrived home from therapy that he donned his suit for the first time in three years. He had decided to keep Spiderman on lock until he felt "ready" and apparently "ready" was the year anniversary of his return. Tony said it was ironic. Peter thought it was providential.

The suit looked exactly like the old one, except for one simple detail. The spider insignia on his chest had a little silver hourglass fitted into the middle.

“She’d be so proud of you, kid,” Tony said as he slipped the suit up his body.

Peter swallowed, flicking a tear away. “You think?”

His dad kissed his hair. “I know.”

He smiled, “I miss her.”

Tony nodded. “Me too, baby. But she’s watching over us.”

“Like Ben?” he asked softly.

“Like Ben.”

Peter finished fitting the sleeve over his robotic arm and grabbed the mask from the table. “Think New York is ready for me to be back?”

“No way.” Tony snorted. “Prepare for a media explosion.”

The teenager chuckled, but when he looked up at Tony, there was no joke in his eyes. “I love you, Dad.”

Sometimes Tony had this look on his face that made Peter feel like he was the most important person in the world. “I love you too, Peter.”

He thought of Natasha and the glorious eternity that she was in. 

An eternity was waiting for him too, filled with voices and people he would have forever. An eternity of memories and experiences that were his own and so precious. An eternity of Russian lullabies and soft laughter that didn’t come _back_ with him but would always be _with_ him. An eternity that Peter wasn’t supposed to be a part of.

Not yet.

Not yet.

When the door opened.

“Ready?” Dad asked.

Peter grinned. “Ready.”

But for now, Peter slipped the mask over his head. Tony laughed proudly as he winked, his Iron Man suit folding around him like old times, and together, they flew from the Tower, smiles wide on their faces. Peter could hear his heartbeat, loud and clear, one of the best sounds he had ever heard, and he let out a triumphant shout.

Spiderman was back.

And Peter Parker was never leaving again.

 

                       

 

_Thank you, Mary Poppins. Goodbye._

           

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, before you go, I am in the midst of writing another fic! I want to write at least three chapters before posting on here, just so that I can be ahead for once. It will be introducing my Marvel OC into the world of fanfiction, and I hope you all will come back and read it too if you enjoyed this. I don't think it'll be more than fifteen chapters, and even that is probably a stretch, but I want to do Harper Maria Zastyvshiy justice, and I would love if you all joined me for the ride. 
> 
> This fic will revolve around Harper, my OC, and her life two years after the Blip. It'll have a lot of twists and turns, but a lot of humor and fluff as well. 
> 
> Also, if you want to, speculate who you think Harper is in the comments below. I love hearing your theories. 
> 
> Love you guys! Thanks again!


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